Quantum Corporation Attacks New Categories of Consumer Electronics - the Hard Drive-based Game Console

Business Wire, June 29, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2000

With Quantum QuickView(TM) Technology, Game Enthusiasts

Will Have Access to an Enhanced Gaming Experience With

Increased Depth, Intensity and Realism

Building on its success in providing technology to manage and deliver digital content for consumer electronics products, the Consumer Electronics Business Unit (CEBU) of Quantum Corporation's Hard Disk Drive Group (NYSE:HDD) is actively addressing the new category of hard drive-based game consoles. Already a pioneer and sole supplier for hard drive-enabled consumer products such as personal video recorders (PVRs), audio jukeboxes and multimedia players, Quantum QuickView audio/video technology is the ideal platform for the next-generation of game consoles like those expected in 2001.

Quantum QuickView technology will enhance the gaming experience because the hard disk drive (HDD) platform is capable of providing video-quality games and can be utilized to enrich the online and multiplayer gaming environment.

As one of the most rapidly growing industries, gaming boasts a worldwide $20 billion annual market. In the United States alone, the number of homes with a game console will grow to 43.5 million by the end of 2003, and next generation consoles will account for 85 percent of this installed base, according to The Yankee Group, an international research firm. With the tremendous popularity and growth of online services, including gaming-specific Internet service providers (ISPs), and multiplayer gaming, the means by which content is managed and delivered is being altered. As built-in broadband modems become a standard feature in the next-generation of consoles, consumers will be able to download games, as well as movies, music and other forms of digital entertainment. In the future, game consoles will not be just for playing games, but can become the entertainment unit for the digital living room.

"As the landscape of the gaming industry is constantly evolving, so are the characteristics of game consoles," said Matthew O'Neill, Quantum CEBU marketing manager. "Broadband modems will become a standard feature, and in the future, so will internal hard disk drives. Quantum QuickView technology clearly has the potential to enhance the future of the gaming experience with the ability to store, manage and playback video-rich content seamlessly."

Revolutionizing the Gaming Experience

As opposed to compact discs, digital video discs and cartridges, the HDD will serve as a vehicle for a revolutionary gaming experience - one that captivates the consumer with depth, intensity and realism. Game developers will be given the opportunity to push the envelope in gaming design. With the growth of broadband access, the HDD will eliminate latency in online and multiplayer gaming. Additional real-time and interactive opportunities will be possible with broadband services such as cable, satellite or digital subscriber line (DSL). The HDD provides the ideal means to literally harness the speed of the communications media by allowing large amounts of information to be rapidly cached and then played back instantly. The HDD's ability to digitally stream audio and video will dramatically improve animation or replace it with video, allowing for more complex story lines and richer features providing gamers with an increasingly realistic and dynamic atmosphere.

"One of Quantum's biggest strengths has been the ability to act swiftly in new marketplaces making us one of the industry's most successful storage companies," said Tex Schenkkan, vice president and general manager of Quantum's CEBU. "Extensive and on-going research has given Quantum's CEBU valuable insight into present and future consumer requirements. As consumer electronics manufacturers incorporate HDDs for the first time in new categories of products, the value, expertise and vision that Quantum offers to the relationship is key."

About Quantum QuickView

Quantum QuickView technology records and stores digital audio and video content providing consumers with the ultimate in A/V management. Features include instant recording, instant playback, and instant access to audio and video content. Because there is no tape involved, there is no rewinding or fast-forwarding to find a specific audio or video clip. Instead, users benefit from instant access to video and audio they have recorded. Quantum pioneered the category of products that control information and entertainment through hard disk drive technology.

About Quantum

Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation (www.quantum.com) is the world's leading storage supplier in six of the seven markets it serves: desktop hard disk drives, tape drives, network attached storage (NAS) appliances, solid state systems, hard disk drive applications for consumer electronics, and DLTtape(TM) automation systems. Quantum is also a leading supplier of high-end hard disk drives. In 1999 Quantum became the first Silicon Valley company to issue tracking stock, replacing its existing common stock with the ticker symbols DSS and HDD, which track the separate performance of the company's DLT and Storage Systems and Hard Disk Drive businesses. Both stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Selling its products through OEM and distribution channels worldwide, Quantum's sales for the fiscal year ending March 2000 were $1.4 billion for Quantum's DLT and Storage Systems Group and $3.3 billion for Quantum's Hard Disk Drive Group.